Flipkart, Amazon expand dark-store sites for quick commerce

Flipkart and Amazon are ramping up their quick commerce operations in India by expanding their dark store networks.

Flipkart, which launched its quick commerce platform Flipkart Minutes in late 2024, plans to open 800 dark stores by the end of December 2025, while Amazon targets 300 dark stores by year-end.

According to the company, Flipkart Minutes saw 16x growth and recorded 53 million unique transacting customers, with demand in categories like jewellery, electronics, home decor, and mobiles rising nearly 10x in the second half of 2025.

Flipkart said it has expanded its services to over 30 cities, including both tier I and II towns.

Amazon is reportedly opening up to two dark fulfillment stores daily, focusing on Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru.

🔗 Source: YourStory

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Flipkart and Amazon lag on dark store reach and profitability

Flipkart plans 800 dark stores (small local warehouses not open to shoppers for fast online order fulfillment) by end-2025 while Amazon targets 300. Swiggy Instamart runs 1,102 across 128 cities, and Blinkit operates more 1. That gap slows delivery for the new entrants and drags unit economics (order-level profitability after costs like picking, delivery, plus discounts). Blinkit with Swiggy Instamart plus Zepto already own high-frequency baskets (items bought daily or weekly such as groceries) 2.
Blinkit averages 8-minute drops with 700,000+ daily orders while Instamart clocks 15 minutes with 600,000+ 1. Flipkart Minutes and Amazon have not shared throughput data (orders per store per day). Blinkit’s NOV (Net Order Value, the value of orders after discounts plus cancellations) share in the Blinkit vs Instamart split rose from 54% to 70% between Q1 FY24 and Q2 FY26 1.

D2C brands and retail media agencies should watch ad setups before big spends

Quick commerce ad revenue totals Rs 3,000-3,500 crore, with Zepto at Rs 1,670 crore ARR and Blinkit above Rs 1,000 crore 3. Campaigns here post 1.5-2x higher ROAS than Meta or Google, plus conversion rates of 3-8% versus 1.5-3% on traditional digital platforms 3.
Many brands now allocate 60-70% of budgets to quick commerce 3. Flipkart Minutes and Amazon have not shared ad formats or rate cards (price lists for ad placements) or API (application programming interface) access. Early movers could lock better buys as pricing has climbed over two years, especially during festive seasons 3, though order density (high volume of orders per store and per hour) remains unproven.